Looking to get the biggest bang for your buck? You won’t be able to stretch your dollar very far in San Francisco, where homes easily go for more than $1,000 per square foot. Popular parts of Los Angeles aren’t much better, and the insane real estate market the past couple years has made previously affordable places like Sacramento and Fresno out of reach for many Californians.
The average price per square foot of a house for sale in California was $383 in April, according to the California Association of Realtors. But, believe it or not, there are still more than 500 ZIP codes where homes are cheaper than that, according to Redfin data shared with Nexstar.
The data shows the Central Valley and far Northern California with dozens of neighborhoods with homes selling for between $150 and $250 per square foot. San Bernardino County in Southern California and certain areas of Sacramento still have a few pockets where prices are even lower than that.
The cheapest price per square foot, according to Redfin’s data, could be found in 93562, which encompasses the desert community of Trona in San Bernardino County. The median sale price per square foot in that Trona ZIP code was just $31 between February and April 2022, when Redfin collected its data.
Trona was hit hard by a series of very strong earthquakes in 2019, including a 7.1-magnitude quake, and still has yet to recover from the damage to homes and businesses.
Several other desert communities top the list for cheapest real estate, as do more rural, agricultural parts of the state.
The 15 California ZIP codes with the lowest median sale price per square foot are:
| ZIP code | Neighborhood/City | Price per square foot |
| 93562 | Trona and Searles Valley in San Bernardino County | $31 |
| 95615 | Courtland area of Sacramento County | $46 |
| 93218 | Ducor area of Tulare County | $86 |
| 92242 | Bluewater and Big River in San Bernardino County | $90 |
| 92347 | Hinkley, near Barstow, in San Bernardino County | $93 |
| 92239 | San Bernardino County east of Joshua Tree National Park | $102 |
| 92398 | Yermo, near Barstow, in San Bernardino County | $107 |
| 93523 | Near Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County | $112 |
| 95941 | Forbestown in Butte County | $119 |
| 92368 | Oro Grande in San Bernardino County | $119 |
| 95526 | Dinsmore in Humboldt County | $129 |
| 92393 | Victorville in San Bernardino County | $131 |
| 95676 | Robbins in Sutter County | $136 |
| 92363 | Needles in San Bernardino County | $136 |
| 95555 | Humboldt County, north of Redwood National Park | $139 |
The cheapest ZIP code in the San Diego area was 91934, an isolated area on the U.S.-Mexico border.
In the Bay Area, the cheapest ZIP code was in Solano County, at 95696, an area north of Vacaville.
The most expensive California ZIP code was 93920, an area much better known as Big Sur. A single square foot in the pricey, secluded area of coastline would set you back $4,257.